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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 17, 2009 23:31:00 GMT
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Post by samwidge on Aug 17, 2009 23:35:03 GMT
Hmmm , not to overwhelmed with this one meself . Seems a bit panic buy championship durge for me  |
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Post by One-Two on Aug 17, 2009 23:37:11 GMT
i'd rather have Kevin  |
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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 17, 2009 23:38:35 GMT
Another grafter.
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Post by samwidge on Aug 17, 2009 23:45:23 GMT
On the subject of reading , i think they have quite a poor side now. Some of there better players have gone , and i wouldn't be at all suprised to see them languishing at the wrong end of the champ . Anyone else?
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Post by CrazyPotter on Aug 17, 2009 23:46:44 GMT
Its the sort of signing I can see TP bringing in to be honest. He is a grafter, with a good engine. Wouldn't mind him on the bench, but I'd much rather gary o neil to come in as the playmaker alongside Whitehead.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Aug 17, 2009 23:48:25 GMT
Typical TP. Exactly the player we already have but he can't get enough of!  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2009 4:34:26 GMT
Isn't that the stuff you clean the toilet with?
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Post by Danstoke82 on Aug 18, 2009 7:04:50 GMT
Isn't that the stuff you clean the toilet with? Thats Harpic aint it? I actually wouldn't mind Harper at all, he's a decent midfielder with Premier League experience. Exactly the kind of market we are realistically looking at. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2009 7:14:55 GMT
Dunna we have enough of these type of players? Is it not an attacking stylish player we are looking for? I thought we were trying to pull in players from a bigger pool now not fishing in the other pond?
Would this chap improve the team to take us to the next level "push us on"?
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Post by Danstoke82 on Aug 18, 2009 7:18:23 GMT
Dunna we have enough of these type of players? Is it not an attacking stylish player we are looking for? I thought we were trying to pull in players from a bigger pool now not fishing in the other pond? Would this chap improve the team to take us to the next level "push us on"? I am astill unsure as to whether we can shop in another pond of players if we are allegedly refusing to pay the money required to compete in it. If we are being coy with the money outlay then the market in which you find players like James Harper and Joe Ledley would see us better suited I guess. |
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Post by stone6 on Aug 18, 2009 7:18:43 GMT
I'd be surprised if this was true unless he's buying him as a squad player as someone else is leaving e.g. Soares, Tonge, Creswell.
Like a lot of the Reading Premiership team, he was very highly rated but doesn't seem to have set the CCC on fire last season.
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bigstokiedan
Academy Starlet
Carpet football at its best!!
Posts: 169
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Post by bigstokiedan on Aug 18, 2009 7:20:03 GMT
decent squad player at most, would prefer o neil also but this is TP we are talking about!! ???
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Post by Danstoke82 on Aug 18, 2009 7:22:03 GMT
But to be fair, is a deal for O'neil ever likely to happen? I have to yet here of any concrete interest from us regarding him?.
I can see TP pulling off a deal for maybe Harper or Ledley on deadline day.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2009 7:24:21 GMT
Dunna we have enough of these type of players? Is it not an attacking stylish player we are looking for? I thought we were trying to pull in players from a bigger pool now not fishing in the other pond? Would this chap improve the team to take us to the next level "push us on"? I am astill unsure as to whether we can shop in another pond of players if we are allegedly refusing to pay the money required to compete in it. If we are being coy with the money outlay then the market in which you find players like James Harper and Joe Ledley would see us better suited I guess. That was my point really. Tony Scholes stated in pre season we are better set up to attract the better player now. Pulis says we are fishing in a bigger pond and deals are tough. So the Harper thing doesn't fit with them statements. Basically it sounds like the white flag has been raised on getting these higher paid players. I can understand that if they do not want to pay stupid wages fair do's but why raise expectations to such a level then back track? Again it is speculation so we will just have to wait and wait and wait and wait and see. |
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Post by Danstoke82 on Aug 18, 2009 7:26:40 GMT
I'd imagine the white flag has been well and truly raised Sidders. Harper for £2M seems to me like a good deal and could fit our system of play.
But like you said, theres been a hell of a lot of speculation in the papers and on here, so trying to work out what is believable is becoming more and more tougher by the day.
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Post by lordb on Aug 18, 2009 7:27:31 GMT
I think Harper is underated going by the above comments.
better than Whithead or Delap (or Diao,Amdy Faye) imho.
yes would rather have O'Neill but would be amazed if TP played O'Neill as a cantral midfielder anyway.
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Post by dozintheseventees on Aug 18, 2009 7:32:30 GMT
Problem is, the type of dynamic, creative midfielder that we would all like to see is (realistically) out of our reach at this moment. There are probably no more than a handfiul that are going to be available at all and most of them wouldn't fancy Stoke or would be out of our financial range. If we then look at the foreign market, Stoke just don't seem to have the contacts/experience in that area to get the right players in. Given all of that, we probably ARE looking at predictable targets here to suppliment what we already have. That being the case, we could do much worse than Harper, particularly at 2 Million. People will question if he is better than we already have but does he need to be? If Pulis has decided that his midfield is good enough and is happy with the balance then he surely needs a couple of players of equal ability to cover/press those already here. We already have a situation where Whelan has been put under pressure to perform with the arrival of Whitehead and such competition can only be good for the club. A good signing at the price IMO.
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Post by johnnysoul60 on Aug 18, 2009 7:37:37 GMT
Always liked him to be honest , certainly a good squad player , much better than the likes of tongue
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2009 7:41:01 GMT
Ok who if he was bought in tomorrow would he immediately replace in the team given that the philosophy is we buy better that what we have?
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Post by sovietonion on Aug 18, 2009 7:42:26 GMT
A Harper, eh? Is there no end to the talent we can attract now?? I'm looking forward to this woman taking on Steven Gerrard with her haunting, ethereal melodies!  |
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Post by armitagestokie on Aug 18, 2009 7:43:54 GMT
Don't swallow harpic---sends you clean round the bend.
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Post by dozintheseventees on Aug 18, 2009 7:53:06 GMT
Sidders: 'Better than what we have' is an all encompassing phrase that can be bent to mean anything. It could be taken to mean better than what we have in the squad. that is to say not an immediate replacement for a first team player but able to push for selection and better than those who are currently pushing for selection. If we sign a better player than we currently have outside of the team then we HAVE improved the squad and the 'better than what we have' comment would be fair. If we have better players pushing those who currently hold the first team shirt then that HAS to be a good thing and the whole performance level should be maintained/improved.
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Post by luke45 on Aug 18, 2009 8:56:23 GMT
Not my ideal choice, but could prove to be decent competition for Whelan, Whitehead and Delap, with past PL experience and several seasons ahead of him at 28. Seems a rather large fee though  |
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Post by dozintheseventees on Aug 18, 2009 9:00:51 GMT
Luke, mate, you can't buy a tank of petrol for less than 2 million nowadays.
;D
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Post by luke45 on Aug 18, 2009 9:03:26 GMT
Luke, mate, you can't buy a tank of petrol for less than 2 million nowadays. ;D ;D I suppose it is the going rate with the inflation of prices these days. I just think if Pulis sticks to his policys of not paying above the odds for players he may try to get a better price than 2 million for Harper. |
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Post by droz on Aug 18, 2009 11:18:14 GMT
On the subject of reading , i think they have quite a poor side now. Some of there better players have gone , and i wouldn't be at all suprised to see them languishing at the wrong end of the champ . Anyone else? I reckon so, Sam. They were talked amongst the favourites to go up again in the build up to the season, but they're looking at mid-table, or lower if they don't pull their socks up. They had a very poor end to last season, and couldn't win at home. Brendan Rodgers doesn't inspire me with confidence and their best player (Doyle) has gone, as have several other key players. As for Harper, he's definitely not the kind of player we need. He did well in his first season in The Premiership, as did all of the Reading players, but hasn't sparkled since then. |
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Post by vestanpance on Aug 18, 2009 11:21:26 GMT
James Harper would be a massive improvement on what we have now. Plus with the likes of him, Soares, Wedderburn etc we might be looking to the future as well.
Harper is a better player than Delap, Diao & Amdy Faye. This would be a step forward IMHO.
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Post by nicholasjalcock on Aug 18, 2009 12:17:12 GMT
Don't swallow harpic---sends you clean round the bend. Yes, but if it gets you clean round the FB it works O.K.? On a more serious note, I think the posters who think the Club's aspirations for "A" class players have gone are right. We have struggled to get "B+" players so now we are looking at "B" class players to replace last years "B-" players. It makes financial sense and also footie sense and is in tune with TP's belief that you build slowly, carefully year by year. But, is this a realistic strategy in the Prem? It works in the lower leagues but the Prem is a tad different? |
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